No Friend Left Behind
by Miraculous Pink Ninja
Summary: Hope Houstone is an overachiever who just wanted to live the life her friend has never had. But when the spirit of her deceased friend shows up, things get a bit complicated. ON HIATUS, TO BE REWRITTEN YEARS FROM NOW. Maybe.
1. Hope Houstone

TMNT © Nick

OCs © MPN

 **If you guys don't mind, I'd like to finish this fic first so that I could at least one completed story in my profile. So all other things are put on hiatus. I'll get them done soon, but right now, I'm gonna start and finish this** _ **one**_ **story.**

Do you ever feel alone in your own world?

Don't you get that feeling? The feeling that you are all alone? The feeling that nobody likes you? Hope felt that way all the time.

Hope didn't like being alone. Then again, she was only alone because fate wanted her to be. At first, each second that passed felt like a nightmare, felt like hell, but once she got used to it, it seemed like nothing. When you wake up, you couldn't wait to get the day over with, but once it's over, you can't wait for the next one, not thinking about the future.

Hope had plans, so many of them, her mom had plans, so many choices, but that's all they were. Plans. Her dad had plans, but they were plain, _boring_ compared to his daughter and wife, but they were what happened. They weren't just _plans_ , they were steps. They were _actions_. They were what got Hope to her current status.

Many people looked up to a smart, diligent, active, and sociable person. They had more friends than enemies. They got along with everyone. They made a difference in the world, but no one said it was the difference they wanted. Hope was one of those people. She was devoted, intelligent, active, and sociable. She had a few friends, but more _fans_ than enemies (which didn't have a big number to begin with). People looked up to her perfect appearance. Students would ask her for help, advice, even _answers_ to _exams_ if they were _that_ desperate. Teachers would often make her and her work an example to a class, maybe even the school. Hope **Houstone** was loved, Hope **Houstone** was admired, Hope **Houstone** was _known,_ but it wasn't always like this, and she liked it the way it was before, when she was still Hope _Bright_.

When Hope was still a little girl, no older than six, she was a nobody. She sat in the corner of the room playing with her little rag doll. Hope had a habit of playing with its long, blond yarn hair, most of the time getting it tangled. She would stick her fingers in the tips and twirl them. She used to do it alone, but one day, someone — some _turtle_ came.

There was a very obvious, very _large_ amount of discrimination laid on him, but he wore a huge grin that made it seem like nothing. He was just as lonely as Hope at that time, maybe even more. Hope didn't take initiative on getting to know him. _He_ did. Hope still remembered.

He walked up to her with that big, goofy grin on his face, hands behind his shell. His big, blue orbs twinkled with hope of sparking at least _one_ friendship before he was kicked out because of ultimate discrimination or something. He held his hand out, stating his name gleefully. Hope stared at his three-fingered hand skeptically, then looked up to his face. After a while, she dropped her gaze and continued playing with her doll's hair. He gave up. He dropped his smile and hung his head before walking to the other corner of the room, where he plopped himself own and stared at the pink, white, and brown blob in his hands.

Hope got curious and stretched her neck to see. She eventually got tired of not seeing anything and quietly scooted closer to the other side of the room. Though nobody cared about what she did, or noticed when she moved, Hope was very cautious with her every movement. She eventually got close enough to see what the blob is, and she was also apparently close enough to hear what the turtle was saying to it.

"I don't get it, Ice Cream Kitty!" he whined, holding up his cat doll, staring up at it with big, teary eyes. "Why won't anyone be my friend? I'm a nice guy, and I'm friendly! Why can't everybody just see that?" Huge drops of water began falling on the floor as he held his cat to his chest tightly.

Hope felt guilty. All he wanted was a friend, and she didn't even try talk to him. She looked down at her toy, as if the rag doll's black button eyes would tell her what to do next.

"Should I help him?" Hope whispered. She looked at her lifeless friend as if it had passed a reply. "But what if I say something wrong? What if he hates me? What if—"

"No way!" Hope froze. He was next to her, looking over her shoulder. "You talk you your toys too?" Hope's heart hammered in her chest from surprise. As she tried to breathe normally again, he watched sheepishly, realizing what he had done. "Whoops, sorry," he apologized, eyes full of guilt, "My brothers told me that if I was gonna make any friends, I have to have a more friendly and less surprising approach, but it can't help myself!"

As she listened, her heart calmed down. This...this guy was just as human as she was, they didn't have much in common, but they didn't have much differences either, not the best friendship material. Well, at least she _thought_ it was that way.

"It's...it's okay," she said, "I just get scared easily. A...and yes, I _do_ talk to my toys." She passed him a small, sheepish smile along with a pink tint going across her cheeks while he exchanged it with a huge grin.

"That's _so_ cool!" he said. "Let's play! Hi, I'm Ice Cream Kitty, what's your name?" He held up his toy cat, the head and torso part in pink, and the bottom part legless and brown, the waist a cream color.

He was going too fast, but it was in a playful, unintentional manner, and Hope didn't mind. "O...Oh me-her? She... doesn't really have a name," she said sheepishly.

"She doesn't have a name? Well no problemo, amigo, for Michelangelo is here to help!" he exclaimed, puffing his chest out proudly. "May I hold her?" he asked, holding out his hand. Hope gingerly put her doll in his hand, and he handled her toy with great care, examining it from every angle. He chuckled, "She kinda looks like you."

"She...she does?" Hope said.

"Kinda," he smiled, stroking her doll's hair and playing with the pleats of her tangerine skirt, "You both have yellow hair, brown eyes. I mean-her eyes would be brown if they weren't buttons. You both wear blue and orange and you have the same shoes."

Hope took hold of some of her straight, platinum blond bangs, and tried to look at it, but they were too short. She tried to look at her eyes in manners unimaginable, and she looked at her clothing: a blue shoulderless short sleeve, a pair of tangerine leggings, white socks, and black leather strap shoes, just like her doll...ish.

"What's _your_ name?" he asked her.

"Hope...Hope Houston, spelled with an E," she stated.

"Hope's a nice name. I'll remember that, that way whenever I need help, I'll just call you," he said, smiling.

"Couldn't you just call your mom, or your dad?" she asked.

"Do you even know what _Hope_ means?"

"It's my name."

"No," he said, shaking his head, "Hope with a small letter. It's like...when you're in a dark room and you just wish that you could see the light. Then you see a little of it, then it goes away. Then you will wait for it to come back. You _expect_ it to come back, that's hope."

The explanation was way longer, but she couldn't remember most of it. She yawned, "You sound like my dad, _boooring_!"

"That's what I always say to Donnie!" he said, then his eyes widened in horror, "Wait-I'm boring? I can't be _boring_! That's Donnie's job!"

Hope chuckled at his horrified face. Each second that passed drew her closer to him. Each minute that passed got them to know each other better. Each day that passed created new memories. Each day that passed drew them closer to a nightmare.

and closer...

and closer...

and closer...

...til they were ten.

Hope was confused, scared. Nurses and doctors rushed here and there, pushing stretchers and beds across the floor. She shook harder as the stressful yells got louder. She watched as a stretcher carried a turtle to the ER.

"Mikey," she breathed, relaxing her grip on her mom's shirt. "Mom, Dad!" she called. "It's Mikey! We have to get to him!" she yelled, pulling her mom's shirt in the direction he went.

Then, it was a blur. She remembered crying. She remembered screaming. She remembered clutching a lifeless hand in hers. She remembered...she remembered making one last promise to him...along with a promise she made to her father.

"Hope..."

"..."

"Hope, we have to go. He's dead, there's nothing you can do about it."

"... You could've done _something_ , dad."

"He's just a mutant. Mutants don't deserve expensive organ transplants."

"He's my _friend_ , dad."

"He's still a mutant."

"..."

"Now, Hope, I don't want you making friends with another mutant ever again. Is that clear?"

"Just because they're mutants doesn't mean that they're any different than us."

"Yes, it does. They revolt against us. They are terrorists. They are animals."

"Pfft, saying that stereotype to my friend is like saying that Aunt Ellen is a terrorist as well."

"That issue is not to made fun of."

"Neither is Mikey's."

"…"

"…"

"Fine. If I give you friend a proper burial, will you promise to be more carful with your friendships."

"Sounds like a deal I could cope with."

That brings us back to the question: _Do you ever feel alone in your own world?_

Hope silently walked her way to school. The rain beat down on her umbrella, some drops running down her raincoat and dropping on her boots.

It was on gloomy days like this when Hope felt the loneliest. She was isolated from the world. She was left behind to cope with everything, if there ever was anything.

Somehow, even with all this rain, people were still striving for themselves, for their family, for their future. Buses picked up businessmen. Snack salesmen either pushed their sales around or stood with them in one place, yelling or ringing their bells, chimes, or whatever they could get their hands on to get themselves noticed by public. Hope might've seen a news crew trying to hold on to their equipment. Hope never watched too much TV, she preferred newspapers.

Speaking about newspapers, she only found them in either convenient stores or small 24-hour-shops that didn't have TVs. There was this small convenient store a block or two from her school that she would visit before heading to class. She would buy snacks, pens, or newspapers, depending on the headline. Today was one of those days she bought a newspaper.

 **THE GREEN PRICK STRIKES AGAIN**

 **24 FAMILIES DEAD**


	2. A Stormy Day

Hope's steps were light and silent as she made her way to her locker, her rain protection put into a plastic bag, which held in her right hand. On her other hand was her umbrella, wrapped in a plastic covering. Tucked under her left arm was a rolled up newspaper. She approached her locker and organized her items. She caught a glance her reflection in the mirror whose frame was plain silver on the side of her locker door.

She turned to the mirror fully, standing up straight. Her long blond hair was shiny and smooth, put into a braid for the weather.

Hope sighed as she opened up the newspaper. The Green Prick was a deadly mutant terrorist group. No one knew exactly what they did to their prisoners -humans, mutants, pets, and livestock- but it was surely cruel. Some say they were tortured and killed, others say that they were raped despite their gender, but the scariest thing was the one Hope believed was true; the human prisoners were used as suicide bombers, the mutants were forced to switch sides, and the pets and livestock were either mutated -though no one knew how- to join their army, or were used as food. Most people feared that hypothesis the most, and no one even dared to think of it. Unlike others, Hope had the courage to lay her belief there until she knew the truth. However, there was another side of her that didn't believe it and thought that they were just kept, forced to understand the situation, then set free in some place. Of course, no body believed _that_. In Hope's defense, maybe the Green Prick wasn't all-in-all heartless.

Man, did that just get cringy.

 _The mutant terrorist group, the Green Prick, attacked Queens, New York two days ago…24 families or 67 people were found dead along with 7 other identified individuals and 10 unidentified…Damage of almost a million US dollars…Desires and/or intentions unidentified._

Hope scoffed. "Yeah, right. They want equality, ya bimbos," she murmured to herself.

Someone groaned. Hope lowered her newspaper to see one of her 'friends', Cassandra Wellington. "A newspaper? Why don't you just use the internet, like everyone _else_?" Cassandra groaned. Hope stared at her blankly. "Maybe it has something to do with _I don't do phones_ ," Hope replied.

"Aw, c'mon!' Cassandra graced her arm around Hope's shoulders while her other waved around exaggeratedly. "Hope, Houstone, the greatest student to ever roam Gesea University! You could have _anything_ you want from _anybody_ in this school! Heck, you could ask for a house and students will give you one!" she said. "So why don't you put down this trash," she suggested, throwing down Hope's newspaper. "Hey!" Hope yelled, but Cassandra ignored her, "get the latest phone, and do what you want from there."

Hope rolled her eyes with a huff of annoyance and crouched down to get her newspaper. "Well, Ms Wellington," she started bluntly, smoothing the old paper, "as the _greatest_ student in this school, **and** as a human being, I deserve respect. I won't do what I don't want to, and I will do what I think is for the better," she explained, walking pass the flabbergasted teen. "Besides, I already have a phone," she added.

9

After the event at the hallway, Hope wasn't in the mood to run into any more 'friends'. But being the most popular girl at school made the meeting inevitable.

"Hey, Hope," Jayden called in sing song voice, walking up to her, her friends tagging along. "Wanna come to my party tonight? We're celebrating Cyron's birthday!"

"Greet him for me," Hope replied, speeding past them.

"How's it going, Hopester?" Phil called, walking alongside Hope as he quietly scolded himself for calling her that.

"Ditch it, Mr Hughes," Hope droned, "only my friends get to treat me that way."

"Am I not your friend?" Phil gasped with feigned offense.

"Friends don't cheat on friends." With that, Hope walked away.

Things have been rough ever since that day. The day his blue eyes closed. That day his bright green skin faded. The day his last words were spoken. It's been so long. So much suffering. There were days when Hope wondered if it was even that long. It had only been six years more or less...six years... _six_ years. It had been so long! She couldn't even remember the right shade of blue of his eyes. She couldn't even remember the right shade of green, the right shade of orange. She promised that she wasn't gonna forget, but she did!

...

...

...

 _What kind of friend breaks a promise?_


	3. A Place To Go Back To

_What was it like to be home?_ She didn't know. Her home never even felt like home. He described it to be warm, cozy, and comforting. Hope never felt that. Home was cold, lonely, and different every time.

The white floors were polished to perfection, the odorless air was crisp, the furniture was the only source of heat, if nobody had taken it before her. Her parents said that home was pretty warm, pretty normal, pretty comfortable. Hope may have never opened her mouth, but that didn't mean that she didn't have a different point of view. She described it as freezing, lonely, and...off. There was something out of place. Something out of reach. Something...something not right.

This igloo wasn't comparable to hell. It wasn't comparable to heaven, either. Not even home, of course. It was comparable...comparable to...she couldn't think of anything. That's how alien it was.

As she walked across the living room, her only source of light was the small amount of it seeping in between the curtains. She didn't feel scared, but she didn't feel comforted either.

She used to be afraid of the dark. She used to be afraid of people. Then he came along. His eyes were the light in the dark, and his presence was what gave her courage and confidence. Maybe if she didn't see his lifeless eyes, she would still be living life to the fullest it could be. Maybe if she didn't see his dull baby blue orbs, she wouldn't be so lonely. Maybe if she had forgotten him, his spirit would be crying its eyes out.

Maybe...

Maybe if she didn't see the faint green in the corner, she wouldn't have gotten her hopes up.

She thought she saw him. The familiar shade of green hidden the shadows of her house. It was too good to be true, and it was. She slightly pushed away a heavy maroon curtain and shone some light on the corner.

Just an empty vase.

It was a white vase, however. Jut a plain white vase with purple highlights. How? She saw green. Purple was no where close to it. So...how?

Hope shook it off, believing that the green was just a trick of the light, and he was gone...forever.

Releasing the curtain, Hope shook her head in disappointment and walked forward. A frown crept up his face as he stood behind her. He watched as she disappeared into her room, gloomy and all. He wanted to yell, he wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He had to wait.

But he hated waiting.


	4. Essence

He was there. Why did he move? If he didn't try to hug her, then she would've seen him! They would be talking and catching up by now. But he moved. He got and excited and ran to her, calling her name, but he went through her, and she was gone.

"Damnit!" he wailed, uselessly kicking the ground and falling on his butt.

" _Mikey, just because Raph says it, it doesn't give you an excuse to say it as well,_ " he heard Leo say.

He sighed loudly, not that anyone heard him. This was getting hopeless.

"Pun..." he chuckled weakly with no humor at all.

Wait— hope. Hope looked! If she didn't care, then she wouldn't look. Then again, she would just be wondering what plant was in the vase, if there was any. Who puts an empty vase in the corner? But Mikey didn't care. He thought that Hope looked because she thought she saw him. And he was right...in a way, but he was right! He just had to find a way to do it again. Maybe if he stood in the corner in the vase again, she'd check again, but he was too impatient. Luckily, Hope was paranoid...well, it's been a few years, but Mikey didn't think that people changed without him.

That's how he found himself jumping up and down while making nonsense and supposed-to-be-sassy-gestures in front of Hope, who didn't give a single indication that he was there. Was he too _Bright_ for her eyes? _Pun._ Maybe. Maybe not. He didn't care and didn't know. All he thought was that Hope was playing a game with him.

"Hope! I know you can see me!" he yelled gleefully, positioning he hands on his back, "Don't pretend that you can't!"

Hope got up from her study table and walked towards Mikey, who was squealing excitedly, but she went through him. Normal people would've given up at this point, but Mikey had the brain of a six-year-old, even if he died at the age of 10.

"Hopie! Hopie Hopie Hopieeeeeeeeee!"

Hope paid no attention to him as she walked to her closet, going through the neatly arranged clothes and pulling out a lightweight crystal blue blazer along with a sleeveless tangerine blouse. Mikey quieted down as he watched Hope changed into those along with a maroon mini skirt with a slit, white leggings, and blue converse.

She turned to the mirror and picked up a sparkling crystal blue head band and a shiny orange one hidden in her drawers. She looked between the two and tried to pick which was better, before putting them down and pulling out an white one with a sparkly salmon colored flower instead.

Mikey remembered the last one. He gave it to her for her seventh birthday. Back then, it was too big for her, but now, it was just right.

She brushed some hair to the front of the headband and tied her thick blond hair into a ponytail that trailed down her back. Boy, had her hair grown.

"Aw, man! Hope, your hair's long! Long like you wanted it to be!" Mikey grinned, bouncing on his toes.

Hope reached into her closet and brought out a cream and light blue colored purse with a gold zipper and an azure blue strap. She placed it on the vanity and picked up a thick make-up brush and a pack of pink blush, applying a light tint on her cheeks. She tucked it into her bag, along with a stick of natural pink lipstick, a white EUS lip balm, her phone, which had a white case and a gold dragon printed on the back, and a purple leather wallet. She slung it across her shoulder then picked up her set of house keys and a blue medium sized box with a tangerine ribbon.

Mikey followed her wherever, and that's how he found himself tugging on his eldest brother's shirt.


	5. Big Brother

Leonardo had turned twenty-one a week ago. He was majoring in law enforcement and minoring in criminal management. He was the salutatorian in class if not school.

Hope had known him since she was seven. When Mikey had brought her home one day. Leo was skeptical at first, but she didn't have the heart to blame him. He was just being the big brother he was. No harm done. It's just that they last saw each other at Mikey's funeral, and even there they didn't talk. The only reason Hope knew where he lived was because he lived with Harmony, the only student in the whole school who didn't give a damn about her. They weren't close friends, but they were genuine ones.

So when Hope showed up on Leo's door, surprise surprise.

" _Hope_?!" Leo yelped in shock, taking a step back.

"Merry Christmas, BB," Hope droned, stretching her hands out and handing him a blue box with a tangerine ribbon.

" _Um_..."

Hope rolled her eyes with a chuckle, "Happy Birthday, Leo!" she said. "Sorry it's late," she added sheepishly.

"Uh...oh—um, _thanks_!" Leo smiled bashfully, a pink tint snaking along his snout. "That's...very nice of you."

"Leoooo!" a voice hollered from the inside. "Who is it?"

"Um...uh-"

"It's okay," Hope chuckled. "Harmony knows me."

"Ha-Harmony?"

Hope rolled her eyes as her friend called for Leo again. Leo had _always_ been bashful for some reason. If he isn't blushing, then he's either cocky or hurt, never in the middle, but sometimes off the line.

"It's just me, Harm!" Hope called, bending forward and leaning ever so slightly to her right. "Your boyfriend here is just really, _really_ flabbergasted."

"Wait, what—"

Harmony came rushing to the door, kitchen knife in hand. Normally, she would've gotten in trouble, if wearing nothing but a tank top and panties out in the open wasn't trouble enough.

"Hope!" she smiled, "Whatcha doin' here?"

"Just handing Leo his birthday present," Hope replied with a small smile.

Harmony chuckled, "You know, when you said that you knew Leo, I didn't think you meant like this."

Hope snickered in reply to her friend's quiet laugh, "Same here. When you said that you and Leo go _way_ back, I didn't think you meant to the point where he's fine with you carrying a sharp kitchen knife around while wearing nothing but underwear."

Leo, in the meantime, was red as a tomato. He had leaned against the door framed and hid his head in his left hand some time ago. He groaned in embarrassment and turned redder, if that was even possible. "Karai," he called shyly.

"Yes, _blueberry_?" Harmony teased.

"Go put on some pants."

Harmony rolled her honey brown eyes and spun around without another word, her long black ponytail slapping Leo's shoulder, making him yelp. As she walked into the house, Leo just stared in confusion.

"Did she just-" he started, turning to Hope.

Hope shrugged. "I dunno, she's your girlfriend, after all," she replied while cheekily planting her hands on her hips.

Leo wanted to roll his eyes, but he began to feel dizzy. Instead of his eyes rolling his world did, and he was out like a light.

"Leo!" Hope called, breaking Leo's fall and gently putting him down, setting his present aside and placing a hand on his forehead. Sure, he was hot, that would've been fine if he was still red, but nope! His leaf green skin was turning grey by the second.

Hope let a silent curse slip through her teeth as she called for Harmony, who came rushing down moments later, denim pants askew underneath a black halter neck top.

"Should I-" Hope suggested.

"No!"

"What-?"

"He's got MMA in his system," Karai replied, pulling out a glass dart out of Leo's shoulder. One could clearly see the contents inside, if there were any.

Hope began to panic as she spotted the dart's shooter shuffling in the bushes. She would've gone after him if Leo's life wasn't in danger, even though letting him go meant risking the life of another. It was a risk she didn't want to think about, and just hoped that whoever it was would had a heart.

Mikey, on the other hand...


	6. Overflowing

"Stop! You meanie!" Mikey yelled while chasing after a black clad man. Of course, the man didn't hear him, and Mikey thought that he was ignoring him.

Mikey _**despised**_ ignorance.

Whether it was him or someone else, a human or a mutant, a living being or an object, Mikey hated it when someone or something was ignored. Back when he was six, no one wanted to be his friend, but at least all of them actually gave any indication that he was there. Even if it was just a silent scowl, or a slight tilt down of a head, or even if it was a full blown tease. He didn't care. Just that people knew he was there. He never pushed his brothers to play with him. He just wanted attention.

" _Donnie, I'm booooooored!_ "

" _Mikey, you know I love you and all, but I have to study._ "

" _Donnie, my toy truck broke._ "

" _Not now, Mikey, I'm busy. Your toy truck's not gonna go anywhere, but the carnival's invention fair will leave in two days._ "

He never pushed Donnie to make him something or fix his toy because he just wanted— _needed_ reassurance that someone was gonna be there to fix everything with a snap of his fingers.

" _Raphie-_ "

" _No, squirt, I'm not gonna play with you._ "

" _Raph-_ "

" _No, bonehead, I'm not gonna let you read my magazines._ "

" _Rapha- ..._ "

" _There, I hugged you, now leave me alone._ "

He never pushed Raph to be with him because he just need to know that he was gonna be there to protect him and his brothers.

" _Mikey, don't run near the pool, you might hit you head._ "

" _Nada, Leo! Ow!_ "

" _I told you not to run near the pool._ "

" _You'll take care of me, right?_ "

" _Yes, little brother._ "

He never followed Leo's orders even if it meant getting himself hurt because he wanted to know that someone was gonna be there to take care of him.

He never thought that someone needed to fix Donnie at some point. He never thought that someone had to protect Raphie at some point. He never thought that Leo needed to have someone to take care of him at some point.

Not until earlier. Someone had to take care Leo after being shot by that stupid dart, and Hope and... Harmony, was it? Hope and Harmony did. Now someone had to take care of the shooter. Mikey took initiative.

He followed the man to a warehouse far from Hope. Mikey didn't get tired, and he thought that it was because he was a super turtle, but it was mostly because he was dead. The dead don't get physically tired. The clouds were grey and the ground was wet.

Correction: _soaked_.

Another correction: _flooded_.

Yes, it was _flooded_ all the way up to Mikey's chest, but he didn't feel it. He just saw it. Then he continued his journey into the warehouse where instead of using the door, he went through the wall of a ship connected to the warehouse (he thought that it was part of the warehouse), another reason to think that he was a super turtle.

The place was lined with black clad men. They were standing in perfect posture, yet it seemed like they were relaxed. Their big, beady, red eyes were staring into space. Mikey was thankful that they weren't staring at him.

Remember when he thought that he _hated_ being ignored? Well, now he'd much rather be ignored now. This place was creepy.

Suddenly, large doors in a distance opened with a loud bang, followed by several fluorescent lights switching on consecutively. Mikey instinctively hid behind one of the men, also instinctively gripping the stranger's thighs.

First there were silent footsteps, then there was a sound of metal banging against the ground, echoing through the entire area. Out of fear, Mikey gripped the man's thighs tighter than he ever had, then with a loud crunch, the man fell forward, his legs left standing while his upper body lay on the back of another man, who had fell. Mikey gasped as he stumbled back, repeatedly saying 'sorry'. Then he hit his back against the man behind him, making him fall backwards, still in his perfect position. Unfortunately, the distance form one man to another was extremely close, so the men that Mikey had knocked over had caused the men on both sides to fall like dominos.

Mikey gulped. Any normal person would make a run for it, but Mikey wasn't normal. Instead, he squeaked, "Can I say 'damnit' now, Leo?"


	7. Bare

**I just realized that the chapters, besides the first one, I have so far don't even reach a thousand words. I'm not gonna fix that since I'm too lazy to. Oh well. You'll just have to suffer because of me.**

Under normal circumstances, Mikey hated being ignored. Now he hated being minded. He stood at the feet of two men, one pointing a gun at him and another wearing silver wrist thingy thing with a six inch blade coming out of it.

"Intruder!" the first one yelled.

Mikey let out a small yelp before kicking the first guy in the shin. Hard. The guy stumbled back while Mikey made a run for it. He went through the the maze of men, the two guys knocking them off and they didn't even care! Like they were statues or something. Mikey didn't have time to think about it and soon got cornered after trying to run through a wall.

"What are you doing here?" the first guy (the only one who's ever talked so far) asked threateningly, pointing his huge, _huge_ gun at little Mikey.

Mikey gulped as he slowly turned around with his arms up, eyes wide with fear. "I didn't steal anything, I _swear_!"

" _Don't swear, Mikey,_ " he heard his older brother remind. He knew that Leo meant the other swear, but he just couldn't help himself. He was gonna die. Again. But he didn't know. All he knew was that it was the end of the line, whether he liked it or not, and he went with the latter.

Mikey squeezed his eyes shut as tears fell down freely. There was a gunshot, but no pain. Then it was followed by several others. Still no pain. Man, does this guy have bad aim or what?

"Why isn't it working?!" the second man growled.

"I-I don't know, Mr Shredder sir. It seems that it just goes through him. _Literally_!"

Mikey peeled one eyes open, only to find the two men yelling at each other, or that's how it looked like to him. He slowly turned around while opening both eyes and found bullet holes on the wall that should've hit his chest, head, and abdomen, but none of them did. Mikey walked up to them and looked through the holes, only to find hard rain. On this side of the ship, it wasn't flooded compared to the other. The water would still reach his shin, but that's the worst...so far.

" **Hey, you!** "

Mikey swiftly turned around with hands in the air and saw the armored grater guy with his silver wrist things bladed. He was poised to slash. To kill. To kill Mikey.

 _Shell_.

Mikey squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain. He wished he could disappear and just hide behind Hope, but he can't.

Then, the man struck.


	8. Plans Cancelled

Hope had come down just in time for her parents' car to pull up on the driveway. She sat stiffly in the couch, though she appeared to be relaxed.

Her coffee brown eyes were blankly staring at the maroon carpet below her. Her blond hair was back in a lightly curled low side pony that set itself on her shoulder. _At least it was a ponytail_. Her face was lightly powdered with foundation. Her eyes were framed with ebony liner, making her look more mature than she was, not that she wanted to. A sleeveless pressed cream silk gazar dress was worn over a white short sleeve, also pressed and made of silk gazar. Her mother would much rather have her wear a dress with an illusion short sleeve neckline, but Hope just didn't like those.

Leo was sent to hospital and given some medicine. He's fine now. Still in the hospital, but fine. The only problem now was the financial needs. The antibody was super expensive and needed immediate shipment from Japan, and a doctor had to cut his day off short because he was the only one capable of such a treatment on both human and mutant. The doctor was kind and generous. The hospital, on the other hand, wasn't as nice. They put in an extra charge into the already expensive bill just because the patient was a mutant. The payment didn't reach millions, nor did it reach hundred thousands. Hope could pay it with less than a week's allowance, but she'd have to get her hands on some check paper. She could always just go out and buy some, which she would. _Tomorrow_. She couldn't have done it today even if she wanted to. Right now, she had to go on a dinner with her parents.

Don't get her wrong, she _hated_ her parents' ways. Sure, her mom was more passive and supportive than her dad, but that's the only thing that set their ways apart. And that's only the delivery. Yet even though they show a great distaste for mutants, they still showed great hospitality to their _human_ relations, family or not, plus they were her parents. _So_...

The door clicked open as her parents came in, presentable and all. They were talking on their phones, for some reason. Business probably. Always business, yet when they went out for dinner, _phones down and family time_. That's one thing she loved about her parents.

Her dad went straight to the bedroom he shared with his wife to fix himself up.

Her mom, on the other hand, put down her phone and smiled warmly at Hope. Hope looked up and smiled back. That smile somehow always drew attention to itself. Like Hope's, except it was warm. Anyone who received a smile from her mom would feel grateful that the world had such a nice person. Anyone who received Hope's smile felt the same thing, except when the smile wasn't directed to you, you'd feel negativity: disappointment, jealousy, anger, self-doubt. That's the difference of her smile and her mom's.

"Hope."

"Yes, mom?" she replied, sitting straighter if it was even possible.

"Mind telling me why you're so miserable, dear?"

Hope's eyes widened, before they darkened and looked down on the floor, fiddling with her sparkly white flats.

"I...don't wanna talk about it," she replied.

Her mom nodded, "I understand." She turned her heel and headed to the bedrooms, leaving Hope alone with her thoughts.

As Mrs Houstone got to the top of the stairs, her husband came out, new pressed suit and all. She walked up to him and they both stared down at their daughter.

"Should we tell her?" Mrs Houstone asked.

Her husband sighed. "She looks more miserable than ever."

She glanced at him in defeat. She then turned and walked into her room, but before she could close the door, she smiled as her husband whispered his reply.

" _I'll get the turtle_."


	9. Mikey Jr

Hope didn't know how to take the news, but squealing and jumping around like a six-year-old seemed to be the reaction her parents were expecting.

"You got me a turtle?!" Hope squealed. "They got me a turtle, I don't believe it!" By then, she had calmed down enough to actually hold the little turtle without harming it, but I guess screaming like a die-hard fangirl pretty much torture to the little guy's invisible turtle ears.

"It's a box turtle (most probably) —a very young one, a male, with dull green skin, a weight of about two ounces -more or less, and a slightly cracked plastron —how did that happen?" she wondered to herself.

"Your dad dropped the turtle when I told him that we should give it to you," her mom replied.

"Hey, I take _no_ part in this!" her dad retorted.

Her mom rolled her eyes, "Little guy's lucky the tile took most of the damage."

"You should name it 'Lucky'," her dad deadpanned.

Hope seemed not to hear their statements after the 'Your dad dropped the turtle' part. She was too absorbed in the terrapin's eyes. They were black, like most turtles, but looking so deep into them made her remember Mikey's big, blue eyes. "I'm gonna name you _Mikey_ ," she whispered to the turtle.

Of course, her parents heard.

Her dad didn't like hearing the name. Not that he detested it or anything, he just wasn't comfortable with his daughter still thinking about the mutant. He still didn't like his daughter meeting anymore mutants. So what did the old man do? He entered his little darling into a prestigious finishing school in a village that seemed so perfect, might as well arrest it for doing so.

Point is: he didn't like the name 'Mikey'. Maybe name it one of his brothers. Leo seems like a good one. So responsible, being a good big bro, making his parents proud in his humble ways. There's also Donnie. Donnie's smart. He's lovable and so smart he could've gone to college when he was supposed to be in elementary. Heck, he'd even take Raph. The hothead had his quirks. Mr Houstone saw him as a reckless version of his only big brother. So long was he didn't have to hear 'Mikey' on a regular basis ever again, he'd be fine. But Hope had other plans.

"I'm gonna take good care of you, Mikey," Hope cooed to the little creature. "I'll make sure you're properly fed, and make sure that your tank's always above decency —trying keeping it at tip top condition would be bad for you— I'll feed you lots and lots of healthy foods (whatever's best for your species of turtles), and… and…" Her plans went on and on and on. She then started walking to her room, still talking. "There's an old tank in the storage room. You could stay there. There's also little decorations, along with lots of plastic castles and treasure chests. Do you want me to put them with you, or would you rather have pebbles? Would you like both? Or maybe…"

Guess dinner was canceled for tonight.


	10. Discovery

How it was: Kill the intruder!

How it is now: Where'd he go?

Last thing Mikey remembered squeezing his eyes shut and waiting for his death…again. He wished that he could disappear, become invisible. He got his wish. He also got away. He also got very, very lost.

There was a flood to his chest, the rain was beating hard on the water surface, and he was moving. He didn't know how, but he was speeding to nothingness. He stood there, confused.

Turns out, Mikey had chased his brother's assassin to a uncivilized beach kinda (very, **very** ) far from Hope's home. When he escaped the two supposed-to be-his-killers, he stepped into the ocean and started zooming to the hospital Leo was at. And he was still clueless about it.

Later, he reached the NY shipping docks. He came to an abrupt stop and began sinking. Of course the little spirit popped back up after discovering that he could breathe underwater and stood on the planks on the docks. He looked down, and realized that he was completely dry. Blinking away his confusion ( _Cough_. Amazement. _Cough_.), he set out to Leo's hospital. The little squirt had no idea where he was going, but he somehow knew how to get there.

It then came to the point where he was trying to squeeze himself between Leo's cold arms.

XxXxX

Karai didn't know what to think when he saw her boyfriend's long lost (dead) brother snoring under his arms. He looked…six, seven maybe? And peaceful, as if he wasn't gone all those years. How Michelangelo got in here, she didn't know. But she _did_ know that there was gonna be trouble if the doctors found this snoring green blob in the ICU.

You know what Karai did? She gently (forcefully, Leo has a steel grip on his little brother) took Mikey away from Leo. And she left him inside his big brother's backpack. Apparently she'd prefer that over confusing that doctors over a baby in the ICU.


	11. Home

The first thing that surprised Leo when he was discharged the next day (even though he was still **very** sick) was the bill. When he woke up, it was all like, 'Oh, hey you're awake! You're totally fine even if you've got a temperature of forty degrees, a clogged nose, and a constant migraine. Here's the freakishly expensive and overcharged bill. Have a nice day!'

The next thing that surprised him was the fact that Hope, her little brother's best friend that he was afraid to even talk to back in the day, had paid his hospital bill. In addition to that, she had reported about the hospital to the local and international government. You know why a they did? **Nothing**. _Wonderful_ society! Hope then insisted that they report it to the Earth Protection Force, since Leo's family was a close friend of theirs and her father was a very influential man, but Leo didn't want to cause any more trouble than Hope already had.

The third thing that surprised him was how heavy his nightpack was. Karai thought that he was gonna be confined for a few days (but obviously not), and brought a bag of essentials to the hospital. Karai couldn't carry it, not because she didn't want to or can't, but Leo was pretty insistent of carrying his own stuff. Therefore, he did.

The last thing that surprised him was when he got home and was about to unpack his bag, he was greeted by a snoring ten-point-sixty-nine kilogram turtle snoring in his the midst of essentials.

XxXxX

Mikey woke up on a soft bed. He liked soft beds. He missed soft beds. He used to sleep on soft beds all the time… Wait… was Leo supposed to be a soft bed?

Mikey's eyes fluttered open. The blur of orange interior seemed a little suspicious since the last place he'd seen that much of that color was in his…

Mikey shot up in his bed as he noticed that something just wasn't right…

" **MIKEY!** "

Mikey nearly jumped out his shell when Raphael burst into the room in tears. Next thing he knew, his big, tough Raphie was hugging him and sobbing like a baby.

"You're real, you're actually real…" he murmured. He muttered a bunch of other incoherent things into Mikey's shell, but the little turtles was too focused on remember how to breathe in Raph's grasp.

"Um, Raph," Karai called from the door, "By the way you're squeezing him, he might die again."

"Oh right, um, sorry!" His big brother stammered nervously, backing away. Mikey greedily took in any air that came close to him (don't tell him, but spirits don't need to breathe air). After returning to his normal shade of green, Raph gave him another hug. "I'm just glad you're alive." It might've been that sudden intake of air, but it seemed liked Raphael had been crying rivers into his shell, but based off the damp puddle of sheets beneath him, it might've gone on for a while.

"Hey, Raphie, are you okay?"

Raph nodded into his shoulder, still cradling the little turtle in his arms, afraid that his little brother would go missing if he let go. "I'm fine, Mikey," he sniffed. He pushed Mikey to arms' length to look at those big, baby blue eyes. "In fact, I'm better than fine. Now that you're here," he whispered as he hugged the solid spirit again.


	12. Visit

**Before this chapter starts, I just want to let you guys know that I'm really bad with coming up with titles, so just bear with me here.**

"Nice to have you guys over," Hope said, stepping aside to let the Hamato family in. "Would you like anything?"

"Pizza!" a muffled reply came from Leo's backpack. "With lots and lots of jellybeans."

Hope thought that she was hallucinating. The voice of her best friend was only heard in recordings nowadays. Her friends must be playing a prank on her.

"Parents aren't coming home in a while," she said as she plopped on the floor. "They're on a business trip somewhere in Southeast Asia," she added, looking up at her friends.

The Hamato fam was a big one, and she was part of it. There was the legal brothers: Leo, Raph, and Donnie, then their girlfriends: Karai and April (Raph didn't seem to have a one yet), the friends: Shinigami and Casey, and lastly, the deceased: Splinter, Shen, and… _Mikey_. There were many, many more, but they are the main ones. Hope would've been a part of it, but ever since Mikey… _left,_ she never saw herself as a close member.

"Then that could give us some time to adjust to this…this…" Leo started, voice fading and cracked. He was recovering pretty well, and Hope could only wish for the best for him.

"Thing," Donnie finished for him. He was about a head taller than Leo and always had bags under his eyes in addition to his wrinkles from stress, making it look like he was the latter's father. "You remember Mikey, right?"

A small thump was heard from under the couch. Everyone looked in between Leo's legs to find a small turtle, no bigger than a hockey puck, crawling out of the fabric.

Hope whistled, lightly patting the floor. "Come on, Mikey, here," she called. Her turtle took its time to crawl over to her. At one point, he accidentally ended up on his shell, but April turned him right side up and the little guy kept going until he was in front of Hope. When he was, the blond lifted him and placed him on her lap.

"So um…" Shinigami started, "You got a pet turtle?" Shini was a girl at Huesea Prep, one of Gesea University's best friends and worst enemies. Hope didn't know Shini well, but what she did know was that fact that if you took Hope, made her hair her black and eyes golden brown, blasted her with make-up, lowered her grades from As to Bs, and gave her insane trickery skills, she would become the exact copy of Shinigami, or at least that's what Hope thought.

"Recently," Hope replied sheepishly.

" _How_ recently?" April asked. The redhead was about the height of her boyfriend's neck, her hair barely grazing her shoulders. Her blue eyes glowed so much that they seemed to emphasize her freckles, even if they were almost invisible. Hope saw her as the human, red headed girl version of Donnie, except April didn't really have the brains to get full a six-year med-school scholarship at the age of nine, but she could maybe get a year's regular college scholarship at the age of twelve.

"Like, last week recently."

The silence was deafening, at least to Hope. Normally, she wouldn't mind this kind of silence, even if she wished that she would hear something natural besides her own breathing, but if you took that silence and put it in a horror movie, then Hope just wanted to get rid of it then and there.

"You replaced me?!" a sob came from Leo's backpack. The older turtle soothingly rubbed his backpack, as if he was trying to comfort it.

Hope just wanted to cry. She was grinning so wide that her face felt like breaking in two, but she just wanted to cry right now.

"What kind of sick joke is this?" she rasped.

XxXxX

Mikey suddenly felt really bad for thinking that Hope had replaced him. At first he thought that there was another mutant turtle that was best friends with Hope, but when he poked his head out of Leo's small backpack, he was greeted with a pang of guilt in his small six-year-old body. His best friend was crying. Hope didn't like to cry. Hope liked to smile. Or at least, that's what Mikey thought.

In reality, Hope preferred to smile and be happy and forget all her troubles when Mikey was around because seeing him with even the slightest hint of a genuine frown of sadness made her wanna cry. Seeing him as happy as he could be made everyone happy, the impression he gave people was enough to make their day, even if he was a mutant. Hope didn't really understand how it didn't effect on the kids on the day she met him, but it was probably because Mikey wasn't smiling much that day.

In Mikey's mind, however, Hope liked to smile for the sake of it. He liked to smile, she liked to smile, everyone would smile because they were smiling. The world was a happy place. Of course, the little guy didn't know that his impression of his best friend was wrong, but it didn't really matter to him. It was in human nature to trust their own judgement more than others, but it was in Mikey's nature not to listen to others' judgement at all.

Why Mikey was feeling guilty about his friend crying? It was because he thought that he caused it. He did, actually, indirectly.

Hope thought that her best friend's voice was a sick joke that they were jut playing on her because she was an innocent little girl who knew nothing about the troubles they were facing now because she wasn't good enough to be part of the family. She was proved wrong when a pair of small, green arms wrapped around her and suddenly her left shoulder was soaked in tears of joy, sorrow, and snot.

Mikey didn't know what was sweeter: Having his brothers hug him again after such a long, long time, or having Hope hug him back after ten years. The more Mikey hugged Hope and let all his tears out, the more everything made sense to him, the more reality finally found its grasp on him, the more he understood the importance of life, the life that was taken away from him, the life that could've gone on for a long time, the life that could've helped Hope alongside her troubles. Hugging Hope made Mikey mature, as if he didn't have a six-year-old mind anymore.

When Hope pulled away and looked into those, big, blue eyes, they glowed brighter as they stared into her hazel ones. She was happy. He was happy. Everyone was happy.

XxXxX

"So…" Donnie started. After the episode with his long lost brother and his best friend, They had gathered around the large, large table. It was round, thankfully, but it bothered him on how big it was. Might as well have a conversation on a king-sized rectangle table with the person on the other side of its length. "Do you remember anything? Anything at all?" he asked his little brother.

Mikey was on a little high chair Hope had dug out of the storage room. He was a little too small for it fifteen minutes ago, and now it looks like he's too big for it.

"Well… I do remember the fact that this chair wasn't as small as before," he replied.

"We should probably get him off of there before he breaks it," Shinigami suggested. No one disagreed.

The second Raph put now-a-lot-heavier Mikey on a normal seat, he grew in size. As if he ate an 'eat me' cake from Alice In Wonderland. In fact, it went on until he was at about Raph's upper arm. He still looked cute, but he seemed to have gone through puberty in three seconds.

Raph's eyes were the size of basketballs as he stared at his little brother. "What the—"

In another jump, he was at Raph's shoulders. He looked like he was about fourteen.

"Um, guys?" Hope asked uncertainly. "What…What is this?"

"Puberty," Donnie replied sarcastically.

"Why do I feel naked?" Mikey asked. Everyone jumped at the now deeper voice of their baby brother.

"Here, baby brother," Leo sighed fondly, draping his blue raincoat-jacket on Mikey's shoulders.

The latter turtle put on the jacket properly, along with the zipper. "I still feel naked."

Leo glanced on over to everyone else, who just shrugged at him in response.

"So…Leo?" Casey called. He was a sloppy high school dropout that was somehow still alive in his own apartment with plenty of food. His black hair was greasy while his clothes were either stained or defaced with paint and markers. Even though his outward appearance made one think he was a hobo, he still had kind brown eyes that didn't make any sense because he was no where close to kind. It would've been more accurate if the kindness in his orbs were like the fire in Raph's emeralds, but that's who he is, so there's nothing you could do about it. "You're the spirit expert. What's the 411?" he asked.

Donnie sighed, "That's not how—you know what? Never mind."

"Don't look at me," Leo said, waving his arms as if saying 'no' a million times. "All I know about spirits is that there's the good ones and the bad ones."

"How about you, Shini?" Karai asked, turning to her friend, "What do you think?"

"I think that this is the craziest thing I have ever seen."

"Can't disagree," April said.

"Ditto," Hope added. "But that's not what's important right now. Back to the question at hand. Mikey," she called sternly, turning to the said turtle, "What do you remember?"

How this question was the thing that was most important at the moment, Hope didn't know, but a nagging feeling inside of her thought that there was something important about it.

"Um… I remember liking pizza."

"Oh, okay. Anything else?"

"Anything important?" Raph added nonchalantly, earning a glare from Donnie.

"Well, I remember you guys," Mikey replied innocently.

"How about how you died?" Karai asked. She knew it was a sensitive topic right now, but she knew that the turtle's gotta remember something, right?

"Well, I do remember eavesdropping on a meeting somewhere in Midtown Park," Mikey started.

"Eavesdropping? That's a big word Mike," Donnie said. "A little too big."

"Huh?"

"You couldn't even spell your own nick name!"

"Huh? Far as I remember, it's M-I-K-E-Y. Right?"

"I stand corrected."

"He used to spell it as 'my key'. As in: M-Y K-E-Y," Leo chuckled.

"Well, I mean, little yokai isn't wrong," Shinigami said.

"Don't encourage him," Raph said.

"Anyway, go on Mikey," Hope said, her hand in a gesture of the said motion.

"Oh? Uh, right. They said something along the lines of 'the Hamato family must come to an end' I think," Mikey continued.

"Wait, who were those people?" Leo asked.

"Um… a dude that looked like his head has been deep fried and another dude that looked like Cris Bradford."

"Uh huh, uh huh," Raph said, "Anything more accurate?"

"Shut up, Raph, I mean it," Mikey said. "Then I said something like, 'Hey, ya jerks! Keep away from my family!' or something stupid that got them on my tracks. I don't remember exactly, but I think I went on a blue bus that had a six on it."

The room fell into a deafening silence that silenced Mikey as well.

"What's wrong with bus six?"

"N-Nothing, Michael," Donnie waved off, "Go on."

Mikey eyed his brother suspiciously, but decided that they probably heard the news of a blue bus with a six on it that only had one causality: Him…oh wait. That made more sense. "Anyway, I was on the bus, on my way to Hope's place, when suddenly—BAM! Bus go bye-bye."

"Bus go bye-bye?" Shinigami asked. "What are you six?"

"I was! Half an hour ago," Mikey whined.

Hope stared at the table. Mikey suddenly seemed mature. He grew in size and mind, and in a good way. He learned words that he never heard before. He remembered events before his death. He suddenly had the slang language of a modern fifteen-year-old. Things were adding up and not coming together at the same time. If you look at it, it doesn't make sense, but after all that has happened in the past hour, it seemed to be just right. It seemed to make perfect sense. It seemed that all her questions have been answered. But…

"Are you at peace?" she asked.

"Peace? Well, I've watched enough horror movies to know that you're wondering whether or not I need something. And in truth, I don't actually know," Mikey replied.

"…Horror movies?" Leo asked. "Mikey, no one in the house has ever watched any horror movies until with I was fifteen, four years after you left."

"Then, where did you watch?" Raph asked, "Heck, where did you even get these things? You shouldn't know how to be professional. You shouldn't know how to talk back. You shouldn't remember anything traumatic to you without having seizure or a heart attack, or whatever else is out there!" He took a big breath and asked calmly. "Who are you and what have you done to my brother?"

"I am Michelangelo Hamato. I am your brother, had I grown up to the age of fifteen," Mikey smirked.

Okay, things have just gotten weird.


	13. Questions

_Where am I?_

 _Why am I here?_

 _Why are they talking about killing my family?_

 _Why am I talking back to them?_

 _Why am I running?_

 _Why am I on a bus?_

 _Why do I feel safe?_

 _Why does it hurt?_

 _Why is she crying?_

 _Why is she making a promise to me?_

 _Why is she making a deal with her dad?_

 _Why can't they see me?_

 _Why can't they hear me?_

 _Why can't they feel me?_

 _Why can't they sense me?_

 _Heck, why can't they_ smell _me?_

 _I'm right in front of them!_

 _I'm yelling a them!_

 _I'm pinching them!_

 _I'm farting in their faces!_

 _Why?_

 _How?_

 _Why does everything_ _ **hurt**_ _?_

 _Why does my heart hurt?_

 _Why am I standing here?_

 _Why are they wearing black?_

 _Why are they burying a box?_

 _Why is my picture on the shrine for the dead?_

 _Why is Father crying?_

 _Why is Mother crying?_

 _Why is Leo crying?_

 _Why is Raphie crying?_

 _Why is Donnie crying?_

 _Why is she not there?_

 _Why is Leo happy?_

 _Why is Leo holding a paper while hugging everyone?_

 _Why is Mother in the hospital?_

 _Why is Mother in a dark room?_

 _What are those men doing to her?_

 _Why is everyone crying again?_

 _Why is Father screaming?_

 _Why…why is Father's blood running down the street?_

 _Why…_ _ **WHY IS THAT MAN THROWING FATHER INTO THE OCEAN?!**_

 _Why is Raphie mad?_

 _Why is Raphie sneaking out?_

 _Why is Raphie starting a revolution?_

 _Why is Raphie killing people?_

 _Why is Raphie killing babies?_

 _Why is Raphie killing puppies?_

 _Why is Raphie killing kittens?_

 _What's Raphie doing to those people, those-those_ _ **mutants**_ _?!_

 _Why are they crying?_

 _Why are they screaming?_

 _Why is he torturing them?!_

 _Why can't I do_ _ **anything**_ _?!_

…

…

…

…

 _Why is Donnie happy?_

 _Why is he wearing a black and gold dress?_

 _Why is he throwing his hat?_

 _Why is that man talking to him— Donnie that's a cruel man! He wants to kill everyone! He wants to kill Father, he wants to kill Mother, he wants to kill Leo, he wants to kill Raphie, he wants to kill you, he killed_ _ **ME**_ _! Donnie listen to me!_

…

…

…

…

…

 _Why…_

…

…

…

…

…

…

 _Why am I still here?_

XxXxX

Mikey sat up in his bed, tears in his eyes, sweat drenched his body. Was it all a dream? No. No, it's can't be. It seemed to real. It seemed too…too **true**!

Why…

Why is he keep asking why?

Why are all his questions left unanswered?


	14. R&R

"Mike, are you okay?" Hope asked.

The turtle was in between the brink of exploding because of confusion, anger, and sorrow and because of joy and excitement. Too many emotions at once! He couldn't take it!

Today was a Sunday, and while Hope needed to study (like she always does, is that really the only thing she could think of doing nowadays?), she preferred to have some fun with Michelangelo before he decided it was a good time to disappear again. He was _so_ excited. Mikey wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon, especially if it meant saving his family from a bunch of murders. _Shoot_ , he was scared again.

"I'm better than okay, dude!" Mikey squealed, happy once more. "We're going to the **maaaaaaaallllllll**!" he yelled, throwing his hands up to the sky.

Hope's car was _amazeballs_! It was a subtle shade of tangerine with a convertible hood and a bunch of buttons that Mikey wasn't allowed to touch, which was fine by him. The black seats were made of leather but somehow, even in this heat, he didn't seem to be sweating. Hope wasn't even going any faster than twenty kilometers an hour! _Woooooaaaaaahhhh_!

Hope chuckled as she parked the car. She seemed happy. Her long blond hair was tied into a braid and she wore no make up. She seemed younger, younger than those who put on make-up to look like they're twelve when they're sixteen. She was wearing a light blue shirt made out of lightweight material, an orange mini skirt and a pair of knee high white boots along with a simple white headband and a matching purse which was kinda funny since he wore an orange shirt made out of similar material, a pair of light blue denim pants, and white trainers while he carried a white backpack. Mikey didn't know if she had planned this or not.

The hood of the car came up as the windows closed. Hope then opened the car door, but before she could even step out, Mikey was already bouncing towards the mall. He was **so** excited!

XxXxX

"Hey, is that a Super Robo Mecha Force Five limited edition T-shirt?!" Mikey asked the clerk excitedly.

The clerk who had a tag that said 'Clark' on his t-shirt sighed gloomily. "No, sir, that is not limited edition. It's a t-shirt from the newest series of Super Robo Mecha Force Five." Mikey stared at him in anticipation. Clark realized that this turtle was waiting for him to tell him the new series. Man, wasn't he too old for anime? Psh. _Weebs_. "It's Super Robo Mecha Force Five: Online, but the it's spelled as _zero_ -n-one-i-n-three."

"Like this?" Hope asked, showing him a piece of sticky note she had with her that had '0n1in3' written on it.

"Yes."

XxXxX

If Mikey thought that they had matching clothes before, he was sure they looked like twins now.

Mikey wore a white shirt with a cute bag of popcorn printed on it while Hope wore a same colored shirt with a cute film on it. The shop they went to had this theme song wherein the first line was 'If you would be the popcorn; I would be the movie' and it seemed just about right to Mikey.

XxXxX

Mikey beat Hope in a game of Dance-off. _Again_. The arcade was fairly empty today, so they had the console all to themselves. Hope was pretty good, but at one point, she would mess up and it put her about ten points behind Mikey. She didn't seem to mind.

By the time they had run out of tokens and they were too exhausted to buy new ones and play more rounds, they had won enough tickets to buy Mikey the biggest stuffed crocodile they had, which was saying something because the toy was twice the size Mikey was and he looked ridiculous carrying it around the mall.

"I'm Leatherhead! Chomp, chomp! Fear my fists!" He yelled as he walked up to other mallers. The kids were super thrilled to see a big, fluffy croc sneak up on them and tickle them in the most sensitive places while the adults that got scared told him to ef off or whatever profane insults they could think of (like normal New Yorkers), but the guy didn't seem to care. After all, he had been dead for ten years. Give him a break.

XxXxX

As they drove back to the Hamato family's villa, where Mikey was staying for the time being, the turtle was happily sipping his boba while sitting of Leatherhead's lap and telling Hope about most of the things he saw in his dream. It didn't seem right, how they were peacefully sipping Mikey's new favorite drink while talking about the past that Mikey had spied on, but it didn't matter because it was Mikey. Nothing seemed right but it felt like it was.

"It seems… off. I will admit," Hope said, taking another sip from her plastic straw. "Donnie took up a job at TCRI after he graduated high school."

"Doesn't he need to go to college?" Mikey asked.

Hope chuckled, "Donnie's too smart for college. The only reason why other companies never hired him was because he didn't have any experience. He wanted to apply to an internship, even if he isn't paid, but he was so smart, people were afraid to hire him. Then this guy named Baxter Stockman came along and gave him a job on the spot, it…it was suspicious because Donnie didn't even try TCRI yet." Hope sighed sadly. "Unfortunately, because your family was so desperate for money, he took the job without hesitation."

Mikey remained silent for a few moments. _Money_? His family needed **money** _,_ but that was one thing that they didn't need. They were financially stable and even if they strived for something more, they were content with what they had. So what did money have to do with this?

"Money," Mikey repeated out loud.

Hope shook her head sadly. "Your mom died of cancer. It…it was bad. Master Splinter gave her a chemo treatment in hopes of getting rid of the tumor, or at least— preventing it from getting any bigger. It was in its early stages, so they could still take it out by operation, but the surgery was scheduled six months after it was diagnosed, which was as soon as it could get. I'm not quite sure what happened, but her grave said that she died by tuberculosis and stomach cancer. So I guess…I guess it was really that bad. After that…Master Splinter…he went out to get groceries one day…and—"

"He never came back," Mikey finished.

Hope gripped the wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. Mikey looked out the window. With the private discussion going on, Hope decided to bring up the windows and the roof. They were going slower. As in, ten kilometers per hour slower. Hope was delaying their drive home. He couldn't blame her. This was something best discussed on the road, when nobody could walk in on them in person.

"Father was killed," Mikey continued. "This guy in this weird armor killed him. Threw his body into the ocean."

Hope was in so much shock, the car almost came into a complete stop. She shook it off and started again with thirty kilometers per hour. "They never found the body. Well…not until recently."

Mikey looked at her incredulously. " _Recently_?"

Hope nodded. "Like, last year recently. He went missing when I was ten. Mistress Shen died right before my birthday. So there was a time difference of about three-four months?" She didn't seem sure of herself. "Then when Splinter went missing… I don't know. I kinda thought that he was kidnapped by the Greek Prick—"

"Wait. What?" Mikey asked, turning his head to the blond.

Hope sighed, amused by his childishness, "Green Prick. Terrorist group that wants equality among mutants and humans, but they never got what they wanted. If anything, the only message they got to world must've been that they were to be feared alongside other mutants, like every terrorist group," Hope growled out the last part. Mikey couldn't blame her.

Muslim terrorists gave those people in general a bad reputation. Germanic tribes made some people think that Germans were barbarians. Mikey didn't know what other junk's out there, messing up entire populations with their sick attempt to get a message through the world's ego.

 **(Following paragraph is best read without too much visualization because you might get a very graphic idea, and this is a rated K plus story, so just don't, for your own sake.)**

Hope blinked a few times, like she was trying to clear up a haze. She let out a bitter chuckle, "But anyway, Splinter's body was found floating by the walkways at Coney Island. He only had his clothes and…and his bones with bits of flesh stuck to it. Leo was horrified!" she gasped with a sad snicker, as if she was trying to keep herself from sobbing. "He kept describing how sick-looking and broken his bones were, how his clothes were torn to bits, his heart looking as it'd been ripped out of the ribcage!" Hope took a breath as she wiped away the tears at formed at the corners of her eyes. She took a few minutes to steady herself. "Leo was…Leo was on an internship at the local police station. You know…for college…and stuff. The policeman who was assigned to him was given the case…and…" she chuckled again. "The DNA tests only proved Leo's theory true. They had your dad stuffed into a carbon capsule so that he could grown into a tree… the little sapling's living in peace right now, doing its best to cover the stone grave of Hamato Shen…"

Mikey let it all sink in. His parents were dead, and his family was struggling for money. What had happened?

"Did…did you help them?" Mikey asked unsurely, "Financially…and emotionally, I mean."

Hope smiled as she turned to him, eyes twinkling with unshed tears. "'Course I did. Helped them with what I had, but when my dad found out he decided to ground me for what—four…five months?"

She drove in silence for what seemed like ages, slowing down and speeding up at random intervals, but Mikey knew that his best friend wasn't stupid. She was either keeping silent because she was gonna say something bad and was preparing herself, or it was better that Mikey didn't know at all.

"So…about Raph," Hope started. _Oh, goodie._ "Before you came back… we never heard from him ever since he left the Hamato household."

Mikey blinked in confusion, looking over at his friend skeptically. "Left?" Realization struck him. He felt his heart drop. "Yeah… I… I remember seeing him leave. Think he became a gang member or something."

"Gang member?" Hope squeaked.

"You want specification?" Mikey asked. "Don't answer that, I'm gonna tell you anyway," he joked half-heartedly. "There's this revolution he leads for some reason. I don't know the name, but it's got this —some sort of symbol. Do you have pen and paper?"

Hope handed Mikey a pad of sticky notes and a ballpoint pen from the glove compartment. In all honesty, Mikey had no idea what he was doing. He just had this blur of a constant shape in his head from his dream. It was scarier once he finished the drawing.

"That's a the Green Prick's emblem," Hope explained, pulling up on the driveway.

It all made some sort of sense in Mikey's mind now. Raph led a revolution against mankind. Raph was one of violence, so no surprise there, but… he didn't do it because of the wish for equality. _No_. It was because he wanted to avenge his family. He wanted to kill those who took his family away from him. Starting with making sure humanity knows what he stands for.

The emblem was a turtle's shell with a lighting shaped crack breaking through it. That one was still on jury, but it either meant the crack on Raph's shell, the one he got from one of Michelangelo's failed pranks, or Mikey's shell when he died.

" _They wanted to pay Father to sell your shell,"_ Raph had told him yesterday, on the car ride to Hope's house. " _Said it was valuable. I told them to go away. They had no respect for the dead. Just because we're mutants doesn't give them an excuse to buy your bodies."_ Raph cursed a lot, most of them involving killing those men years ago and killing their families. Mikey was only half awake, so he guessed that Raph thought that he couldn't hear his ranting.

He was wrong.

Very wrong.

Now Mikey didn't know whether or not Raph and changed. He didn't know whether or not Raph as still the same protective brother he had known all those years.

What can he do?

…what _should_ he do?


	15. Another Angle

**I wasn't really planning to, but I changed the rating to T because terrorism is apparently a thing that isn't for kids.**

XxXxX

"Is it ready?" Shredder asked menacingly.

"Almost, Master," Stockman hissed, almost growled.

This man was the most dishonorable man he had ever met in his entire life. He willingly worked for a lot of bad men in the past. Even if they didn't treat him decently, they gave him what they promised: Millions of billions of dollars, and that was enough for the scientist.

This man, however, was not worth any amount of money. The way he treated Stockman was inhumane. The way he talked to him made it seem like he was nothing but a nuisance. _How did Stockman even talk himself into this?_

At first it seemed like a good deal. Five million dollars for his tracker prototype, _double_ for a blueprint of an almost unbeatable robot that could be easily replicated, **triple** of the _double_ to hire one efficient mutant turtle into Stockman's company, and _**quadruple**_ the **triple** of the _double_ for watching over that turtle's every move, and every one of his family's activity. What the Shredder gave was more than enough for each activity, but now, the Shredder asked Stockman to build a new robot, sort of like a better, newer version of his previous one.

It was a long shot, but Stockman knew he could do it in the given amount of time, but the Shredder had moved the deadline, giving him merely two weeks to complete his task. _Well, Stockman's sorry if he won't be able to finish building his ten foot tall robot with several metal plates and a very high-tech AI in half a month!_ He barely even got started on the endoskeleton when Shredder decided to cut his deadline short again by three-fourths!

Then there was the harsh treatment, followed by the use of violence, so on so forth. Something must've worked up the man to get him to go into this phase of complete and utter rage. At first, Stockman was considerate because he understood the troubles of the world, but it's been a week and this man had already entered into a phase that involved spite. A lot of it. Then a few hours later he got into the phase of the combination of the two, and Stockman was ready to blow. He was _**this**_ close to grabbing his disintegrator and reducing this dishonorable, disrespectful, and inhumane cheese grater into nothing more than a single strand of RNA. If Stockman wasn't so patient, understanding, and kind, he'd done that already, but the Shredder was pushing his limits.

"Almost is not enough!"

"Well _maybe_ if you shut up and stop yelling at me for a few minutes, I **might** just be able to get this thing you want so badly **WORKING**!"

And so the Shredder kept his mouth shut. Stockman was able to finish the robot, and without warning, the Shredder told him to send it to the Green Prick's main base in Ohio. And so he did. The robot was safe and strong, why the man wanted this indestructible being in a terrorist group was unknown to Stockman, but it definitely wasn't to brag or make a deal with the rebels. As the robot crushed the lieutenant's tent, the Shredder ordered him to kill everyone in sight. It was a fun time. The manual controls Stockman had inserted for times like these made him feel like he was a kid playing a very disturbingly graphic game and the automatic controls made sure that no one left the place alive. Soon, it was a massacre. _Man, the US should call him a hero for killing all these monstrosities._

Stockman didn't hate mutants in general, he just didn't like those who hindered his work, a good example: the Green Prick. They always destroyed his work and killed his most prized employees, and as much as he didn't care for any of them, they lowered the people's demands for his service because he claimed him to be 'too weak, too fragile, too vulnerable'. _Hmph_. He'd pick up his company from scrap if he had to, so long as the Green Prick wasn't there to burn it down ever again.

" **WHERE IS HEEEEEEEEEEEE?!** " the Shredder suddenly yelled, flipping over the exam table where the robot once laid on.

"Am I missing out on something, Master?" Stockman asked, raising a brow at the enraged pile of blades.

"Hamato Yoshi's son is the leader of the Green Prick, **why isn't he at the main camp?!** " Shredder explained, grabbing Stockman by the collar of his shirt and shaking him harshly.

"That seems…reasonable," Stockman commented unsurely. He had no idea who Yamato Moshi was, but from the look on the man's face, he concluded that Gelato Loki was a hated enemy of the Shredder. "But if he's the leader of the Green Prick, then wouldn't he be patrolling other camps, maybe planning another attack in another area?" Stockman asked.

"Yes, maybe, maybe…"

Suddenly, the scientist was on the floor, watching her Shredder go back and forth while muttering to himself like a crazy man. He probably was.

XxXxX

" **WHAT?!** "

"It's true, High Leader. Camp's in shambles. Everyone's dead, but all the weapons are still here —broken or not, even food and other resources. This must've been an ambush solely conducted to destroy our main camp."

Verminator Rex listened as Red Stripe cursed several profanities into the phone. He couldn't blame the guy. He built this place from scrap, and while Verminator Rex went to the lake to do the laundry, there must've been some sort of ambush. He heard gun shots, screams, and several high ranking officials screaming bloody murder. When he got back, everyone was dead. Bodies sliced cleanly in half or brutally ripped apart, others didn't even have their heads anymore while most had bullet wounds in their foreheads, instant kill. Seems like the attacker didn't show any mercy, and Red Stripe sounded like he wasn't going to either.

"I'll be there," High Leader growled. "Just make sure to stay safe. Put the other camps on high alert, we can't lose any more men."

"Affirmative, High Leader."

"Also, tell Mira and Mona Lisa to prepare to make their move on their respective areas as soon as possible. We need to relocate main camp."

"To where Sir?"

"I don't know yet, but stay there and gather any survivors, weapons, and resources. Everything."

"Yessir."

And High Leader Red Stripe hung up.


	16. Preparation

It was a calm, starry night. Fifteen year old Michelangelo lay on his back with his hands behind his head. The turtle sighed as he snuggled himself deeper into the grass. The little turtle knew that it was past his bedtime, and Raphael had come to get him.

The older turtle walked up to Mikey's head, arms crossed and a playful smirk plastered on his face.

"Mike, it's past nine."

The smaller turtle groaned as he threw his hands up. "I'm fifteen, Raphie, I can stay up as late as I want!" He groused.

Raph rolled his eyes fondly at his little brother. "Alright, ya little squirt, bedtime," he chuckled as he hoisted his heavy brother up. " _Man_ , what have you been eating recently?"

"Mm….pizza, pizza, more pizza, and some ice cream."

Raph smiled fondly at his brother as he followed him to the latter's room. As Michelangelo lay in his orange sheets, Raphael draped a tangerine quilt onto the turtle. He pressed his lips softly against the bright turtle's forehead.

"Night, Mikey."

As he turned to leave, he heard his brother sigh sadly.

"Do you have to go?" Mikey asked, not looking up to meet his big brother's eyes.

Raph sighed in return as he turned back to his little brother. "Yes, Mikey. I do. I…I have to go do something."

"Something," Mikey murmured, Raph could swear that he heard a bite in his ototou's tone. "Right. Like what?"

"Things, Mikey, things."

"Such as?"

"Things you'd never understand."

"Just because I'm fifteen doesn't mean that I can't understand," his little brother protested weakly. He let out a yawn. "You don't have to do everything alone, you know?"

Raph thought hard on Mikey's words, but before he could ask more about it, the orange-clad turtle was snoring. Raph knelt beside the bed and pat Mikey's forehead. Mikey doesn't need to know. He's been through a lot, being undead and all that crap, so Raph's not gonna burden him by telling him things that he's kept as secrets for so long.

Imagine how that would go: 'Hey, little undead brother, guess what? Your big bro Raphie is a leader of a big bad terrorist group that wants to kill all humanity.'

Yeah. Real smooth.

Raph sighed again. So long as Mikey was with their brothers, he would always be safe. _Always_.

XxXxX

Mira wrapped her coat tighter around herself. It was a spring night, but the storm kept finding its way underneath her coat and fur and into her skin. It annoyed her, just as much as humans did, and that was saying something. Normally, this wouldn't be such a big deal, but with what's been going around lately, she really _wasn't_ in the mood to come fetch the High Leader on a dark and stormy night. Sure, she respected him, but now _really_ wasn't the time.

"It's a hard time for everyone in the tribe," Mona Lisa said, as if reading her thoughts. The mutant lizard handed Mira a paper cup of coffee, which she accepted gratefully.

They stood in silence for a bit, waiting for Red Stripe to come around the corner and finally allow them to go their camps and get this day over with, but he seemed to take forever.

"How much longer do you think we have to keep on fighting?" Mira asked.

Mona Lisa sighed as she lowered her cup. "I'm not sure, but I'm ready to fight for as long as it takes."

There was another silence.

"I want to have a family one day," Mira said out of the blue. "I want my children to live in peace. I want them to go to school without the risk of being bullied. I want them to get a job in a high position. I want to have grandchildren," she chuckled bitterly. "… But I don't want them to fight anymore. It's so hard to fight, you know? It's hard to wake up every morning not knowing what comes next. It's hard to go into a fight wondering whether or not you'll come out alive, not knowing if you'll be the next person in the stretcher." A tear ran down the meerkat's cheek. "It's hard knowing that no matter how hard you try, there's a relatively high chance that we're not really doing _anything_ ,"she sobbed.

Mona Lisa sighed, "I understand how you feel. We fight thinking, ' _This_ will make the world a better place. _This_ will make way for those who don't know where to go. _This_ will open up opportunities for those like us, _mutants_. _This_ will give them chances we have never been granted.' At the end of the day however, we're _not_ making a difference, but we fight to show people how capable mutants are anyway. Humans are so short sighted. They see what they want to see, and if you make them see something, they only see one aspect of it, ignoring the rest of the picture. It's sometimes sad to see them like that."

"Yeah…"

"I see you two are having a pep talk." The two jerked their head up to see High Leader Raphael Red Stripe smirking at them. "Oh, it's fine," he said, putting his hands up in the air, "I can wait. It's not like we have to solve this **huge** problem in our organization or anything, go on," he said sarcastically.

Mona Lisa rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Raphael," she nudged him playfully. "Let's get going."


	17. Exposition

"Didn't you hear me?"

" _Yeah_ , I'm just about to look it up, Mikey."

"Well, look it up faster, D!"

"I'm trying!"

The Hamato family had heard about the incident of the Green Prick from Mikey. He had a nightmare about mutants being slaughtered somewhere in Ohio. How his little dead brother had known about this, Donnie didn't know, and neither did the internet.

"What?" Donnie gasped. He searched again and again, but he was only being greeted by the stupid 'no results match your search' screen.

The door swung open with a loud crash as Leo and Karai came in, the former being worried about his little brother's whole being.

"Is everything okay?!"

Donnie rolled his eyes. Leo had been extremely over protective of Mikey lately. Especially when he heard that the orange-banded turned had had a nightmare.

"Leo, I think Raph's in danger!" Mikey yelled.

Donnie looked at his younger brother with a confused spark in his red brown eyes. "What does Raph have anything to do about this?"

"I haven't seen him since last night!" Mikey yelled.

"Last night?!" Leo repeated. He brought out his phone and started ringing his immediate younger brother.

At that moment, Shinigami and April ran in, eyes filed with worry. April was barely able to open her mouth when Casey ran in and jumped on her shoulders.

"WHERE'S THE DANGER?!" He yelled, raising his hockey stick like a maniac.

With an annoyed huff, April gripped his calves and sent him sprawling on the floor. She wiped away the muck that had stuck onto her purple cardigan.

"He's not answering!" Leo exclaimed with a high pitched voice. He was panicking.

"Leonardo, if you don't calm down, you're gonna end up in the hospital again!" Karai yelled, slapping her boyfriend multiple times.

The hectic atmosphere started to die down. Everyone sat in peace in the living room of their villa. Somebody and closed and locked the door, and someone had offered everyone boba and gave Mikey a large cup of the cold drink.

That someone was Hope.

Mikey sat on Leatherhead's lap while suffering from a brain freeze. Hope sat by his side, wearing her school uniform and her blond hair in a high bun. Shinigami, Karai, and April were also in their respective uniforms and sat side by side with the boys.

It had been a week after Mikey had come back, and as happy as everyone was, they were all worried, especially when Hope had told them the news of Mikey's whereabouts all these years, but they all knew that she wasn't telling them everything.

Leo looked the most worried. His face was so pale you'd think he's either Mikey or Donnie.

"Is Raph–"

"Fine," Mikey cut him off. "For now. Guy doesn't know how to ask for help from his family," he said with a bite in his tone.

"I thought that that was more of Leonardo's department," Shinigami joked. No one laughed, and they all just looked at we like she lost her marbles. "Oh, bad time?"

Hope cleared her throat as she straightened up. "If the Green Prick's main base was attacked, then Raph must've gone and done something about it, right Mikey?" she said.

Donnie was stumped. Raph was behind all the bad things with humans and mutants? That turtle was gonna pay if so. Sure, he _was_ his brother, and he wouldn't want him to go to jail or be punished with a death sentence, but still. Raphael was gonna sit in front of the educational channel until he learned the first five hundred digits of pi, golden ratio, and Euler's number!

"Yeah. Said I wouldn't understand," the little turtle grumbled, sipping his drink angrily.

"Mikey, you're gonna get another—" Donnie was cut short as Mikey groaned in pain. "Brain freeze."

"You know, I think that Michelangelo might be a heavy drinker one day." Everyone turned to the witch again, who looked back at them with the same expression. "Still not a good time?"

"So what do we have now?" Casey asked.

"Well," April started. "We know that Splinter's been murdered, and that may have been connected to Mikey's death somehow."

"And that Raph has been and idiot and raised an organization to take down all humanity," Donnie continued. Hope nodded at him, signaling that his conclusion was right. _Oh, that turtle's in so much trouble when all this blows over!_

"In addition to that," she said, "Raph's most probably gone to Ohio to take care of the mess there."

"There's another thing," Mikey said, setting down his half empty cup. He was probably not ready to get his third brain freeze of the day. "Donnie's boss is in this in some way. He's working for a guy that attacked me that day Leo got shot."

"Attacked?" Leo gasped before anyone could process anything that Mikey said.

"I went after the dude," Mikey grinned sheepishly as he blushed.

"Michelangelo, you idiot!" Leo was about to pounce on his little brother when Donatello blocked him with an arm.

"Leo, you can't pummel Mikey. You're the eldest. remember?" Leonardo calmed down and sat back on his chair. Once he did, Donnie added, "So I'm gonna pummel him first because as the second youngest of the family, I've got an excuse to be mean." With that, he lunged at Mikey with a yell.

XxXxX

Raphael growled as Leonardo called him for the eighteenth time that hour. He was currently in a meeting with Mira the meerkat, Mona Lisa the Lizard, his new lieutenant, Sal Commander, and many others at Mona Lisa's camp somewhere in…he wasn't quite sure. _Was it North or South Dakota?_

The fairly large tent they were in was in the middle of a camp surrounded by stakes. The girl really knew how to keep enemies at bay.

Raph waited for the ringing to stop. When it did, he turned back to his comrades, who understood just as well why he had to constantly put the meeting on hold. Raphael's phone was made by Donatello. It meant that it once upon a time had a tracker (which Raphael 'accidentally' broke) and if the younger turtles wanted to, he could make it answer, whether Raphael like it or not. If Donnie suddenly decided to answer the phone without his older brother's consent, then he could drop in on the very important conversation they were having. It bothered them all, yet they knew they could do nothing to move the genius turtle.

Once the phone silenced, Raph with it down with a relieved sigh. He opened his mouth to speak, but it rang again. This time Donnie was calling. _Oh joy_.

"What could work up your brothers so much so it gets to the point where they won't stop calling you?" Mira asked frustratedly. She respected Raphael's family very much, but it was on days like this when she wished that they would just forget about Raph until they finished their current task. Especially when the task was either a raid or an attack.

"If this meeting goes on any longer, I'm going to have to leave," Mona Lisa said. "I need to lead the raid group over at Deadwood before noon."

As the phone stopped ringing, Raphael sighed. He knew that it wasn't long before he got another call. "We'll have to continue this at another time," he sized, rising from his seat.

"Very well," Mona Lisa nodded. "Everyone May stay here for the night. That is, of course, if none of you have got anything planned?"

"Well, I do have a flight tomorrow evening," Mira mumbled, loud enough for everyone to hear. "But," she sighed, leaning back. "If we could get this over by noon, I'd say that I'm good."

"Then it's settled," Sal Commander said. "High Leader Red Stripe," he called, turning to Raph, "I assume that you will have all that sorted tomorrow?"

"I'll do my best," Raphael nodded. Then he left.

XxXxX

Verminator Rex will not stand for this! _He_ had survived the death of his entire camp. _He_ had been standing alongside Red Stripe for as long as he could remember. _He_ should be the new Lieutenant. Not that stupid lizard! So what if Sal was Raphael's most trusted companion? _Baloney_!

Verminator Rex should be the one walking out the meeting tent side by side with Red Stripe! _He_ should be! Only **he** is worthy of such a position! He thought that allowing the Shredder to take down main camp would make him the next right hand of the clan, but _**nooooooo**_. It was that stupid lizard!

He'll show them. He'll show them all…


	18. Rising Action

**If I asked you guys to leave a review, would you? (Also, I am aware that I'm writing several characters OOC, but this just goes to show why I write my stories with FCs or OCs.)**

After everything that happened that morning, she _really_ wasn't in the mood to hear her classmates complaining.

"What kind of a freak test is this?!" Cassandra yelled, gripping a crumpled paper in her hand. "There is absolutely no way that I'm getting a D in Literary Understanding!" she complained, slamming her failing paper on the teacher's desk.

Miss Junior looked up from her laptop to meet the student's angry eyes. Though the girl was enraged, the teacher showed no emotion. "Miss Wellington, please go back to your seat and wait for classes to start," she ordered.

Cassandra spluttered at the teacher's monotone reply. " **Excuse** me?"

Hope rolled her eyes as she listened to the little brat rant about how famous her daddy was. In reality, George Wellington didn't really have much of a reputation. He was the CEO of a tile factory. Yes, a _**tile factory**_. His daughter acted like he was the president of the state. Though he was a respectable and humble man with several other wonderful attributes, his daughter did not share the same characteristics.

Hope sighed as her paper was placed in front of her by the only boy in the entire school who actually respected her: John Doe. She liked him as a friend, and if she were to choose a partner for any occasion, she'd choose him. Given the fact that those occasions were decent and up to both their standards. The red mark of 100 didn't really surprise her, but it didn't thrill her either.

 _I wonder, if Mikey went to school, what grades would he get?_

She suddenly got the sense that somebody was watching her. She whipped her head to the classroom door. Her heart flipped to her throat as she saw a shadow blur past the window. A few other students seemed to noticed, and were also unsettled by it.

It didn't take a genius to know that something wasn't right.

XxXxX

When Donatello came to work today, Stockman noticed that something was…off. What did he do about it? First he asked Donatello what was wrong, and he got nothing. Then he immediately jumped to the desperate measure because he was still stressed and annoyed from the Shredder's treatment. He brought out his computer and hacked into every device Donatello owned while keeping a keen eye on the security camera, just to be sure he wasn't missing anything.

The sixty tabs containing 'Green Prick' that were searched around seven in the morning didn't really help Stockman. What bother him more is that half of them had 'Ohio' and 'attack'. Donatello knew. The question is: _How_?

XxXxX

One thing Mona Lisa enjoyed about raids was the graffiti she got to put around. She enjoyed the smell of paint and the way the can weighed in her hand. Another thing she enjoyed was the people she got to terrorize. Scaring humans half to death made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Of course, brutal killing, though totally up her alley, was not something she wanted to do on a regular basis, if at all.

One thing she hated about raids was when she was force to kill police and take innocent people hostage. Another thing was when their raid was cut short by the weather or armed forces they couldn't beat.

She didn't quite know how to react to being captured. She was stunned. The dart in her neck sapped her of her energy, then everything went black.

XxXxX

"HE KNOWS?! HOW?!" the Shredder wailed. Stockman had to cover his ears. The armored man proceeded to punch the crap out of his right hand man, who seemed generally unfazed by it.

"Uh, sir?" Stockman called weakly. "I think you should just take a second to–"

"HOW DOES HE KNOOOOWWWWWW?!" The Shredder then gripped an unfortunate Foot soldier and threw him out the window. Stockman cringed.

"Is he dead?" Xever asked, looking over the broken glass.

"Would you like to know?" Bradford teased, bruises starting to form at his cheeks as his boss stomped around like a kid having a tantrum.

The darker man grunted in annoyance as he elbowed the Elite Soldier in the chest. If he was fortunate, he cracked rib.

"Send someone— _ **ANYONE**_!" the Shredder wailed.

"This can't be good," Stockman grumbled as he put his head in his hands. "Seriously," he called, looking over to the remainder of the psycho's men in the room, "how do you put up with this?"

"Didn't any of you insolent ninja hear me?!" Shredder exclaimed, shoving another unfortunate Foot soldier to the ground. "I said, SEND SOMEONE TO SPY ON THE HAMAT—"

The man was cut off by a ding in the elevator. Stockman sighed as he looked over the security camera. There stood a business man in a black pinstripe suit and red tie carrying a black suitcase, his red brown hair neatly combed back. Stockman pressed the green button as he straightened. In came Jack Brown in all his glory.

"What brings you here so early?" Stockman asked casually, as if his office wasn't a mess and there wasn't a mentally unstable man watching his every move. "I thought I sent you out to spy on someone."

Jack rolled his eyes. "As insulted as I am to be sent to stalk a teenager, I found out that she's connected to that of the H—"

"HAMATOS!" The Shredder yelled.

Stockman slammed his palms onto his desk as he stood up, immediately establishing authority over the mad man, who clamped his mouth shut and steeled for glaring at Jack. "Continue," Stockman said as he sat back down.

Jack cleared his throat. "As I was saying, the girl—"

"Is linked to the Hamatos. I **know**!" Stockman groaned. "I told you that. I sent you to spy on her to find out things that can't get my hands on through the internet!"

"Well, about that—" Jack attempted. He failed horribly.

XxXxX

"And you're **all** sure that you saw something?" The headmaster asked for the twelfth time. Now they were all getting riled up.

" **Yes**!" The seven students that noticed the dark blur earlier chorused. One of them being Hope.

"Sir, I'm not saying that the school security is flawed in any way, but I'm— **we're** telling you about someone who might have breached the school barriers," John stated. "We might not be safe."

"And you said that if we felt unsafe, we could come to you and ask for help!" a student in the back added. The others mumbled in agreement.

The headmaster slumped back with a sigh. "Not once in my entire life have I seen my students so wound up about something as little as a shadow," he grumbled. "Are you implying that Gesea Prep is haunted?"

"Sir," Hope spoke up. "It get like he was watching us, watching _me_ , like he' stalking us or something."

"Yes yes," the headmaster waved off nonchalantly. He had had enough of nonsense complains for a day. "Let me know when you see him again. _Then_ I'll doing something about it."

Realizing that they wouldn't be able to get anything else done, the students shuffled out of the office, grumbling as they made their way to the entrance, ready to head back for home for a nice nap. Hope was not one of them. She went straight for Mikey's villa, only to find Donatello being shoved into a van with his brother.

Her heart felt like coming out of her chest then and there. Panic struck her like a train and dread ran over her like its wheels. Men in black took turns in beating up the struggling turtle. Inside, Mikey lay unconsciously, blood dripping from his head.

Pulling herself together, Hope pulled up on the side of the road and got out of the car as casually as she could. She walked over to the men, who still had yet to notice her. "Hey!" she yelled, grabbing the arm of a man who was just about to punch Donnie's nose. "What's going on?" she demanded, normally warm brown eyes turning cold.

The man scoffed, but even under his black mask, one could tell that he was trying not to panic at the sight of a witness to his crime. "None of your business, blondie," he said, shoving Hope to the ground.

Donnie took the opportunity to knock out the men that were previously restraining him. Once he was done with that, he hit the man at the back of his head with the handle of a hidden knife he had on him the whole time. As a fourth man came out to help his unconcious colleagues, he was knocked out by a hard kick in the groin. Satisfied with his work, the pale turtle turned to Hope, who had gotten up and was dusting herself off.

"What are you doing here?" Donnie asked. "It's not safe."

"Well," Hope grunted as she let her hair fall down her back. "how was _I_ supposed to know that you were being attacked?"

"It's not like you come around without notice," Donnie said, hauling one of the men into the van and took Mikey out of it.

"I'm sixteen, I can choose where to go so long as I what I'm doing," Hope retorted.

"Oh, so we're playing that now," Donnie teased. "What happened to goody-two-shoes?"

Hoped rolled her eyes with a smile. "Let's just take care of these guys."

XxXxX

Mona Lisa groaned as she opened her eyes. She was bound to a chair, arms at her sides and legs secured to the furniture. There was nothing more than a lightbulb overhead, and a shadow in the darkness.

Mona Lisa knew that shadow meant nothing good.

What she didn't know was it would be her last sight.


	19. Suspicions

Pain. Lots of it. In his head. And his body.

He was in the dark. Literally. He could see nothing, could feel nothing but cold and pain, could hear nothing but high-pitched ringing. However, that only lasted a split second. Next thing he knew, he felt blankets around him. Warm, warm blankets. He didn't hear anything, but it was okay. It was better than the ringing. He didn't see anything, but there was a light behind his eyelids. He felt safe.

"Is he going to be alright?" a muffled voice asked, words almost unrecognizable.

"Well," a sigh, "if I know Mikey, he's gonna get up any minute now…"

Right… he's gonna get up…any…minute now…

XxXxX

"So?" Hope asked, getting up from her seat on the chair. "Anything, officer?"

The policeman shook his head with a sigh. "Sorry ma'am, but no."

"Do you know _why_ they did it?"

"They claim to do it for the money."

"…money?"

"The money that they could get from the villa."

"I told you that they tried to kidnap my friends, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did. Unfortunately, we couldn't get anything from them. I really am sorry, ma'am, but there is nothing else we could do for now except throw them in jail for a bit."

"Wait," Hope gasped as the officer turned away. "What if I sue them, how long will they be in jail?"

"Well, assuming you successfully prove them to be guilty, they'll be in jail for a few months."

"What if their offense is more serious?"

"You mean more serious than a break in and kidnapping? I'm not quite sure," the officer chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're going to have to ask the professionals about it. I'm still kinda new, but if you _do_ have evidence on it, sign me up."

Hope let out a light laugh. "Sure thing, officer."

"Fox," he suddenly blurted out, his hand extended to her. "Oh um… I'm Officer Fox."

"Hope Houstone," the blond girl shook the hand of the blond man fondly, giggling at the officer's similarity to Leonardo.

"Welp, see you around," Fox said, tipping his hat. "Maybe we could go out sometime?"

"Sometime," Hope smiled, turning away, "when I'm older," she added over her shoulder.

With them she exited the police station and entered her car with a deep sigh. "Well _that_ went well," she murmured. She stared at the white folder on the passenger's seat. "Anyway," she sighed, picking it up, "let's see what we have here."

XxXxX

In the ruins of Deadwood, the splinter group of the Green Prick were waiting for their next order. It had been eight hours since thus started, making this raid the longest in the history of the organization. It was a bad thing.

"Where's Mona Lisa?" one mutant asked in a hushed whisper. His comrade shrugged. The mutant turned to Mona Lisa's second in command, a mutant black cat that had green eyes with golden flecks and ebony hair in a ponytail braid wearing leather gear and armor. "Rhian," he called. The mutant cat turned to him. "What's the command?"

Rhian bit back a growl. Something wasn't right. She knew it since earlier, she just didn't want it to be true. "Return to camp," she said. She turned to her group. "You four," she pointed to the group of mutants that were bunched together, "with me. You," she gazed at the mutant that called her attention, "take charge. We won't take long."

With that, she turned her heel and headed for the last location she was aware that Mona Lisa was in, the four mutants following her. She didn't need to check if the desert mutant would follow. She knew that he would, and if he didn't, it wouldn't mean anything because without Mona Lisa, the group is as good as gone.

"Rhian?" one of the mutants that came along with her called. "I smell something."

Rhian raised her hand to halt her scout group. "Continue."

The wolf mutant sniffed the air. "Blood. From a dead body. And… Mona Lisa."

XxXxX

Verminator Rex turned the dial on the machine, trying to get a signal that he could use.

"C'mon ya hunk of junk," he grumbled punching the top of the radio a few times, " **work**."

Finally, after what seemed like eternity. He heard _his_ voice, even if it was muffled by static.

"Verminator Rex," Shredder's voice came through the speaker. "Do you have something to report?"

"Red Stripe seemed to have postponed the meeting. Their next course of action is still uncertain. Mona Lisa allowed them to spend the night here."

"Keep an eye on them, and do not report back until you have something better than a postponed meeting. And…

Don't expect Mona Lisa to come back."

XxXxX

Hope absent-mindedly tapped her foot against the brown carpet more aggressively. Mikey had been about for roughly… _Hope glanced at the clock_ — eight hours! She felt the need to send him to the hospital, but she didn't know how _that_ would work.

" _Oh, and what would be this little boy's name?"_

" _Michelangelo Hamato. Parents are Shen Hamato and Yoshi Hamato."_

"… _oh…oh dear. It says here he died about nine years ago. Are you sure that that's his name?"_

" _Huh? Oh yeah,_ _ **totally**_ _. His spirit just came back from the dead. You know what I'm saying?"_

Hope blinked at the thought and mentally slapped herself. _You've over your head here, Houstone._ _ **Waaaay**_ _over your head._

"Shouldn't you be home right now?"

Hope looked up and saw Donatello come in with a plate of cookies and a tall glass of milk.

"Could say the same for you," she mumbled. Donnie bent down and offered her the treats. Hope accepted them whole-heartedly. _Man, she was starving!_

Donnie pulled up a chair beside her and took a seat. "I live here. I thought you were smarter than that."

"I thought you were smarter than to leave Mikey alone with a phone, a phonebook, and a hundred dollars."

"Hey, in my defense, all teenagers make prank calls. And how was I supposed to know that there was a sale at Antonio's?"

Hope chuckled as she bit into another cookie.

Mikey stirred.

"Hi'sh hawake!" Hope exclaimed as she leaned forward, cookie still in her mouth.

Donnie was already on his little brother's bed, lightly shaking him. "Mikey? Bro? You awake now?"

Silence…

Donnie sighed in disappointment. "False a—"

" _Pizza_ …" Mikey moaned.

Donnie's concerned features were gone in a snap, replaced by a flat look. "Seriously? You hit your head, go unconscious for a third a day and _that's_ all you think of?!"

Hope chuckled as she finished her cookie and put aside the plate and glass.

"'M hungry, Don, feeeeeeed meeeeeee!" Mikey groaned, weakly slapping his brother's arm.

"He's fine," Hope concluded with a chuckle.

"Seems like it," Donnie grumbled, reaching for Hope's cookie plate and handing it to Mikey. "I'll give you a cookie if you get up."

"No."

Donnie groaned as he ran a hand down his face. "This, is going to take a while."


End file.
